Carnauba wax and the preparation thereof



W. A. SPRAGUE CARNAUBA WAX AND THE PREPARATION THEREOF Filed March 15. 1926 Feb. 7, 1928.

CAST IN HOT MOLD L Fig.5.

, SLow COOLING Patented Feb. 7, 1928.

'UNlI'TElD STATES PATENT/OFFICE.

WILniAE: n. sPRAGuE; or IsLme'ro'N, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO. UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPOBA'JTON. or. PA'rERsON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION or NEW JERs Y.

f 'cARRAuBA wAx AND THE PREPARATION THEREOF.

Application filed March 15, 1926. Serial No. 94,868.

This invention relates to the' preparation of carnauba wax in the form of coherent cakes and to such coherent cakes. Carnauba wax is a secretion obtained from the buds and leaves of the Brazilian wax palm (U0- pemicia' cem'fe ra). The leaves from which the wax is obtained are dried'and beaten and the resultant dust gathered up and melted.

When the wax cools, it cracks into irregular pieces, the. greater portion of the wax being in pieces from the size of a hens egg or a little larger down to a -fine powder, with occasional largerlumps ranging up to half a pound or more in weight. Prior to the presentinventiomthis was the only form in which pure orunadulterated carnauba wax was known. In this form it is sacked and shipped from Brazil. As-the wax is brittle, there is a continuous tendency for thelarger pieces to break up and for the amount of powder to increase.

Among the different uses of carnauba wax is the polishing of various articles, for example, lasts and shoes, to which the wax is applied by means of rotary brushes or pads. The small pieces of wax and the "dust are useless for "such purposes, since the wax is applied to the brushes or pads by holding pieces of it against them 5 by hand as they rotate. Thus, carnauba .wax has heretofore been sorted by the importers or dealers, only the larger pieces of wax being sold for the purposes just referred to. Such selection of course considerably increased the cost of the wax to the purchaser. The selected wax, moreover, after it has been sorted, continues to break down under the treatment it receives during shipment totheconsumer, so that, even after buying the selected grade, the shoe 40 such attempts prior to the present invention.

'- have been uniformly unsuccessful, since it was found 'that upon cooling the cakes cracked and broke to pieces. Thiscondition was so well understood in the trade that it wasgenerally regarded as impossible to cast unadulterated carnauba wax into coherent cakes] It was recognized, however, that if the carnauba wax were mixed w th c'ertam or last manufacturer accumulates quantities other materials it could be repared in such form; but these materials or example, parafiin) softened the waxand, accordingly, detracted greatly from its value as polishing material for such articles as shoes and lasts where a. hard finish is desirable.

After a long series of experiments, I have worked out a method'of preparing pure carnauba Wax in the form'of fine-grained coherent cakes having suflicient strength to stand .up without breakage under the conditions normally incident to the handling of the wax both in shipment and in its application to the rotary brushes and pads of polishing machines. In carrying out this novel method, the wax is melted at a temperature low enough to prevent it from becoming burned.

It is then preferably allowed to stand and settle, and then is cast in hot molds which are caused to cool very slowly, the cooling, from a temperature slightly above the melting point of the wax (about 216 Fahrenheit) to the room temperature, taking place in from twelve to twenty-four hours, or longer, according tothe sizes of the cakes which are being cast. J

In another aspect, the invention comprises, as a new article, pure or unadulterated carnauba wax in the form of coherent cakes.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate diagrammatically the herein described new method of preparing carnauba -wax in cake form.

'In the drawings Fig. 1 represents a typical sample of carnauba wax in the condition in which it is imported into this country;

Fig. 2 illustrates the melting of thewax in a covered receptacle;

Fig. 3 illustrates the wax standing in the covered receptacle without the application of heat after it has been melted;

. Fig. 4 illustrates the casting 'of the wax in a hot mold;

Fig. 5 illustrates the slow cooling of the wax in the mold; and

.Fig. 6 shows one of-the smooth coherent cakes of carnauba wax thus prepared.

In the drawings the order of succession of the various steps in the preparation of applicants new product 'is indicated by the arrows connecting the difl'erent figures, as well *as by the numbers of thefigures themselves.

Fig. 1 represents a sample of carnauba. Wax of the grade known commercially as No. 1 yellow. It is of a light yellow color and consists of pieces varying in size from a hens of dirt. This, however, is inconspicuous and for the most part invisible.

The preparation of the Wax will be described herein with reference to a batch of' about fifty pounds, since such a batch constitutes a convenient working unit. The batch of wax is placed in a covered receptacle as indicated at 10 in Fig. 2, and is heated, for example, by an electric heating unit 12. During the melting the temperature of the wax mustbe kept below its burning point. It should not be permitted to rise above 220 Fahrel'iheit. On the other hand, at least with batches of this size, it appears to be in'ipractical to keep the temperature much below 216 Fahrenheit, and the latter figure may be accepted as good practice. During the melting of the wax, which will take about an hour and a half or two hours. a light colored, nearly white scum consisting of foamy material illustrated at 1 1 with crust-like portions illustrated at 16 forms upon the top of the darker colored molten wax 18 (Fig. 2).- After the wax is melted, the heat is turned off and the wax in the covered receptacle is allowed to stand for about twenty minutes,

as indicated in Fig. 3. During this time, the scum 14', 16 is for the most part redissolved, leaving the top of the wax substantially clear, as indicated at 20. Also, what ever dirt or other impurities are present settle to the bottomof the receptacle. The wax is then removed, leaving the settlings which contain the dirt in the bottom of the receptacle, and is poured into sheet metal molds 22 (Fig. 4) which have been previously heated to a temperature about that of the molten wax. The molds of hot wax are then protected from rapid cooling, for example by suitable heat-insulating material indicated at 24 (Fig-5), the cooling being controlled so that it takes from about twelve hours, in the case of small cakes of about one-quarter of a pound each, up to twentyfour hours for cakes weighing one and a half or two pounds, still slower cooling being necessary if the cakes are much larger than that. lVhen the cakes of wax are thus cooled, the formation of internal stresses sufiicient to cause the cakes to crack or break is avoided. Moreover, the wax shrinks as it cools sufficiently so that the cakes loosen themselves from the molds and can be removed readily.

The cakes of carnauba wax thusprepared are attractive in appearance, are smooth, and of a color which the trade recognizes as better' than that of the raw carnauba wax from which they were prepared- If one of the cakes is broken, for example by a sharpblow with a hammer, its fracture is finegrained.v WVhen castingcakes of carnauba wax by the method herein disclosed the cakes may be cast with a trademark,lettering or the like, suitably forming'the bottom or other surface of themold. This adds to the attractiveness of the cake of wax and isdesirable from the merchandising point ofview. These cakes appear asshown in Fig. 6 and substantially no waste when using the ca-kes for polishing purposes since each cake. can be used until it is too small to be held by hand against a rotary brush or pad.

as indicated. at 26 in Figs-:6, by

, are sufliciently strong to stand handling and shipment without breakage. Thusgthere 1s While all of the hereindescribed steps of applicants novel method are of assistance in obtaining the best results, nevertheless useful results may be obtained ifcertain of the steps-are omitted. For example, if the molten wax is poured into cold sheet metal molds, cakes which are probably,- mer'chan disable though of inferior appearanceand strength will be obtained.- The exterior surface of such cakes of carnauba'wax,'instead of being continuous and smooth, willbe rough and marked with creases and cracks Also, such a cake is less strong than one cast in a hot mold and upon being broken it is found that its central portion, at least, is of a much coarser structure.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A method of preparing coherent fine-" grained cakes of unadultered carnauba wax characterized by cooling molten earn a'uba wax sufiiciently slowly to prevent the occurrence. of internal stresses of such magnitude j asto cause the cakes of wax to cracker break.

2. A method of preparing 'carnauba wax which comprises melting-the carnauba, wax at a temperature insufficient to cause it to burn, pouring'the molten wax into molds, and cooling the wax in the molds sufficiently slowly to prevent the occurrence of internal stresses of such magnitude as to cause the cakes. of wax to crack or break.

3. A method of preparlngcarnauba' wax which comprises melting the carnauba wax I at a'temperature insufiicientto cause it to burn, pouring the molten wax into hot molds,.

and cooling the wax in the molds sufiiciently slowly to prevent the occurrence of internal stresses of such magnitude as to cause the cakes of wax to crack or break.

4. A method of preparing smooth, co-

herent, fine-grained cakes of.carnauba wax which comprises melting raw carnauba wax without permitting the temperature of the wax to rise sufiiciently above-its melting point to darken the color of the wax, removin a covered receptacle and thereby melting the wax at a temperature insuflicient to cause it to burn, letting the moltenwax stand. in the covered receptacle until most or allof the foamy material accumulated on the top of the wax during the melting is dissolved, pouring the'wax into hot molds, and slowly cooling the wax in the molds whereby smooth coherent fine-grained cakes of carnauba wax are produced.

6. A method of pre aring smooth coherent fine-grained cakes o carnauba wax which comprises allowing molten carnauba wax to stand and settle in a covered receptacle for about twenty minutes, then-pouring the wax into hot molds, and controlling the cooling of the wax in the molds so that it takes from twelve to twenty-four hours, more or less, for the temperature of the wax to drop from slightly above its melting point to substantially room temperature.

7. A method of preparing carnauba wax which comprises melting'raw carnaubawax in a covered receptacle by means of an electric heater while keeping the temperature low enough to prevent burning the wax, turning off the heat and letting the molten wax stand in the receptacle until most of the foamy material accumulated ,on the top of the wax during the melting is dissolved, pouring the wax into hot molds, and cooling the molds of wax sufliciently slowly to cause I the cakes of wax to come to room temperature without cracking.

8. A method of preparing carnauba wax which comprises melting raw carnauba wax without permitting the temperature of the wax to rise'above about 220 Fahrenheit, separating fromthe wax-whatever dirt may be present, pouring the wax into hot molds, and causing the ;wax to cool sufficiently slowly so that internal stresses sufiicient to make the cakes easily breakable are not set up.

9. A method of preparing carnauba wax which comprises melting raw carnauba wax in a covered receptacle without permitting the temperature of the wax to rise above about 220 Fahrenheit, removing the source of heat and permitting the wax to stand in the covered receptacle about twenty minutes, pouring'the wax into hot molds, and protecting the molds from rapid cooling by suitable insulation so that the cakes of wax are formed without cracks or the occurrence of internal stresses sufiicient to cause the cakes to crack or break. r

10. A method of preparing carnauba wax which comprises heating raw carnauba wax in a covered receptacle and thereby melting the wax without permitting its temperature to rise above about 220 Fahrenheit, letting the molten wax stand in the covered receptacle without the application of heat until most of the foamy material accumulated on the top of the wax during the melting is dissolved, pouring the wax into hot molds, and slowly cooling the Wax in the molds whereby smooth coherent fine-grained cakes of car nauba wax are produced.

11. A method of preparing carnauba wax which comprises melting raw carnauba wax in a covered receptacle by means of an electric heater while keeping the emperature of the wax below about 220 Fahrenheit, turn ing off the heat and letting the melted wax stand in the receptacle about .twenty minutes to permit dirt to settle andthe foamy material which rises on the top of the wax during the melting to dissolve, pouring the wax into hot molds, and controlling the cooling of the molds of Wax so that the cakes take twelve hours or more to come to room temperature.

12. A method of preparing carnauba wax 14. Unadulterated carnauba wax molded in the form of a coherent cake.

15. Unadulterated carnauba wax in the form of a smooth coherent fine-grained cake. 1'"

' strength to stand u without breaking under the treatment whic it normally receives in shipment and handling and in being a lied to the rotary brushes or pads'of p011 ing machines;

In testimony whereof I have signed name to this specification.

WILLIAM A. SPRAGUE. 

